Never Again!

I think the Lord just opened my eyes to one of my failures as a pastor over the last several years. A lady in the church remarked to me many times that she saw God work a miracle in August of 2009 during our worship service: instead of transitioning from the end of my sermon immediately into the Lord's Supper (which was my habit for every month's last Sunday), I decided to offer a chance for people to respond to the message & to the Holy Spirit as we sang a hymn. During the response time, this particular lady's 69-year-old husband decided to follow Jesus & seek baptism. The miracle, said this lady, was that I broke with my habit and God graciously intervened.

One Sabbath day at the synagogue Jesus broke with tradition and healed a woman who had been disabled for 18 years (Luke 13:10-17). The 'worship leader' said this was neither the time nor the place for that kind of ministry. Jesus rebuked him and all who agreed with the 'worship leader.'

I assume that the disciples eventually got the message - NEVER AGAIN will true worshipers be permitted to ignore other people - especially the oppressed & helpless. They understood that a major component of gathering in worship is ministering to one another. And just maybe, to ensure that the Church would not drop this responsibility to love people as Jesus did, he decided to equip every disciple with gifts by the Holy Spirit to use in ministering to one another.

Dismantling Bad Arguments

With a minimal groundwork laid, our small logic class turned to common ways that arguments fail to make the case the arguer intends. Fallacies are what logicians call these common mistakes.

1. If the argument is truly a formal argument, there are two easy ways to ruin it:
(a) Prove that one of the premises is false (=ruining the form of a formal argument).
(b) Find a counterexample that violates the argument.

*I'm of the opinion that most arguments people encounter outside the academy are the informal/inductive variety. Also, I found working with informal fallacies to be quite fun in the course I took. Therefore, I decided to give formal fallacies only a passing nod. If some folks show desire to learn more, we might break out the square of opposition!

For the following fallacies, I gave people the name, my brief explanation, and an example of the fallacy committed in an argument. The fun is in putting a finger on what the exact problem is. I'm not giving my specific examples because it took a long time to find precise & concise examples that would interest folks.
2. Some informal arguments have irrelevant ideas that ruin them.

a. appeal to force - "My conclusion should be accepted or else!" threats, blackmail, etc.

b. appeal to pity - "My conclusion should be accepted because of these unfortunate circumstances." immoral begging, shut-your-brain-off-and-feel-sorry requests

c. appeal to the people - "My conclusion needs to be accepted if you are going to fit into the group." peer pressure, jump-on-the-bandwagon arguments

d. argument against the person - "That conclusion is wrong because you said it." every failure to recognize that the truth is true no matter who presents it and with what motives

e. accident - "Here's a broad principle/rule that justifies my conclusion for this specific situation." misusing broad principles/rules for cases they weren't meant to cover, failure to recognize a special case

f. straw man - "That other opinion is so crazy in the first place! Of course it's wrong, and here's why..." misrepresenting an opposing view so that you can triumph over that misrepresentation (instead of a real position)

g. missing the point - "If you agree that premise #1 and premise #2 are true, then why don't you agree with my conclusion?" letting true evidence lead me just off target from the fitting conclusion - to something related

h. red herring - "Focus on my engaging side issue instead of focusing on the actual evidence I have for my conclusion." different audiences fall for different 'red herrings' - whatever the hot topics are

Part 3 (weak induction) coming soon!
Part 1 (Clear Thinking Matters)

Clear Thinking Matters

Last night I led Equip 2.1: Basic Logic Principles for our church. I couldn't be more pleased with the results and feedback. Here is how we began:

A. You must understand the arguer before you can argue with him.

1. First, look for the parts of the argument:

a. conclusion – the arguer is trying to persuade you of something: his conclusion

b. premise(s) – the arguer uses or implies evidence that should lead you to his conclusion

c. For something to be considered an argument there need to be premises and a conclusion that follows from them. Stating your opinion, giving advice, conditional statements, and many other statements sound like arguments but are missing parts.

d. Some arguments have necessary conclusions (deductive/formal arguments), but most of the arguments we see have probable conclusions (inductive/informal arguments).

2. Second, test the individual parts of the argument.

a. Do you need to learn more about the subject matter to understand the argument?

b. Does the arguer use unfamiliar words?

c. Are there implied parts to the argument of which you should be aware?

d. Are there any terms or statements in the argument that are vague or ambiguous? [Arguments must be clear in order to be effective.]

B. Everyone needs logic for clear thinking – especially Christians.
1. Proverbs 1:20-33 The cost is high for stupidity.

2. Following Jesus requires understanding his words & their application to many areas: John 8:31-32.

3. Many temptations can be fought by arguing against your sinful impulses with truth: 1Corinthians 10:11-15.

4. Our society is more impressed with rhetoric (speech that moves you) than logic (use of evidence to draw good conclusions).

Part 2 (Dismantling Bad Arguments)

a Missionary Command

These are the 3 martyrs from Malatya, Turkey of April 18, 2007.
This morning I taught on Matt. 5:43-48 - Jesus' famous command to "love your enemies." I think it only makes sense if we hold it together with: (1) Jesus' commission to his followers to spread the gospel and (2) Jesus' prediction that his followers will face opposition because of Him.

Putting this into a single directive: "As you proclaim the gospel and call on all kinds of people to repent, you will find many who push back at you - love those people. Welcome them with the same kindness your Creator & Judge showered on you while you were his enemies."

"Love your enemies" is a missionary command.

Missional Church

My 200-year-old church has not made a sizable impact on our community in a long time, maybe never. So, I'm usually interested in biblically sound strategies for growth, for revitalization or whatever else.

I like Mark Dever's work on restoring a pure church. Ed Stetzer's work on restoring a missionary mindset to churches is challenging and practical for my situation.

To the mix I add Eddie Hancock, a missions director for the baptist convention in Nevada. Because the shuttle bus was full after the last session of the SBC, Eddie had to sit by me on the way back to our hotel. We talked about the Lord and our service in the kingdom, and I was intrigued by the task of reaching Nevada with the gospel.

Eddie said his experience has been that many Southern Baptists from the South have trouble adjusting to and connecting with people in Nevada's culture. So, instead of relying too heavily on outside leadership for churches and church planting, Eddie and others are trying to train leaders among Nevada natives.

"How many men in your church have a steady diet of the Bible besides what they get from your sermons?" Eddie asked me. My guess would be pretty small - maybe single digits. So, how can we train leaders of churches with that sort of minimal personal effort among men? Eddie suggested what is called Life Transformation groups (suggesting the "edgy" author Neil Cole).

LTGs have three parts and no more than three members who meet for 1 hour weekly to: (1) discuss high-volume Bible reading each member has completed for the week [each reads the same chapters as the others]; (2) pose accountability questions to one another [using any number of prying lists out there about spiritual health and discipleship]; (3) pray for specific lost people.

Disciples edify one another by discussing the Word and life. They also pray and focus together on reaching others with the gospel. It becomes normal to talk about Jesus and to build relationships based on trusting one another. When a fourth person comes along, the one TLG becomes two with two members each. It seems excellent to me!